The lost siblings of the Sun
Open accessAbstract
The anomalous chemical abundances and the structure of the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt observed in the solar system constrain the initial mass and radius of the star cluster in which the Sun was born to M ≃ 500–3000 M ☉ and R ≃ 1–3 pc. When the cluster dissolved, the siblings of the Sun dispersed through the galaxy, but they remained on a similar orbit around the Galactic center. Today these stars hide among the field stars, but 10–60 of them are still present within a distance of ∼100 pc. These siblings of the Sun can be identified by accurate measurements of their chemical abundances, positions, and their velocities. Finding even a few will strongly constrain the parameters of the parental star cluster and the location in the Galaxy where we were born.
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The solar system did not originate in isolation, and instead formed within a cluster of 10^3-10^4 stars.
“Various lines of evidence indicate the solar system did not originate in isolation, and instead formed within a cluster of 10 3 10 4 stars (Adams and Laughlin 2001; Portegies Zwart 2009; Adams 2010; Pfalzner et al. 2015).”
From The planet nine hypothesis (2019) · cites this paper as Portegies Zwart 2009
Cites
Morbidelli, A., & Levison, H. F. (2004) · The Astronomical Journal · doi:10.1086/424617 · Cited by 193 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The structure of the hot Edgeworth-Kuiper belt objects provide evidence of this, as this population ca be reproduced by a relatively nearby encounter with another star (Morbidelli & Levison, 2004).”
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The Birth Environment of the Solar System
Adams, F. C. (2010) · Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1146/annurev-astro-081309-130830 · Cited by 464 · see citing works
Batygin, K., Adams, F. C., Brown, M. E., & Becker, J. C. (2019) · Physics Reports · doi:10.1016/j.physrep.2019.01.009 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
“Several groups have worked to quantify the effects of scattering encounters in young stellar clusters using N-body methods over the last decade (e.g., Portegies Zwart 2009; Malmberg et al. 2011; Pfalzner 2013; Pfalzner et al. 2015, 2018).”
BackgroundINTERACTION CROSS SECTIONS AND SURVIVAL RATES FOR PROPOSED SOLAR SYSTEM MEMBER PLANET NINE
Li, G., & Adams, F. C. (2016) · The Astrophysical Journal Letters · doi:10.3847/2041-8205/823/1/l3 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Dynamics of Planetary Systems within Star Clusters: Aspects of the Solar System’s Early Evolution
Batygin, K., Adams, F. C., Batygin, Y. K., & Petigura, E. A. (2020) · The Astronomical Journal · doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ab665d · Cited by 43 · see citing works
- Authors
- Portegies Zwart, S. F.
- Venue
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Publisher
- American Astronomical Society
- Published
- 2009-04-07
- Volume
- 696
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- L13-L16
- ISSN
- 0004-637X (ISSN-L)
- 1538-4357
- OpenAlex
- W2154773847
- Cited by
- 98
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 3.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Astrophysical Journal (publishedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara (PHY05-51164)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
- Keywords
- Kuiper belt, chemical abundances, solar system formation, Galactic Center, stellar kinematics, field stars
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